2012 a year of renewal at Hoeft & Wessel

Hannover/Germany - The Hoeft & Wessel Group perceives 2012 as a year of renewal, in which business development will be shaped by the company's reorientation. The manufacturer of ticket vending machines, parking machines as well as mobile terminals therefore expects lower sales revenues for the current financial year 2012 year-on-year at roughly EUR 78 million.

The operating result (EBIT), at ‑EUR 4.9 million plus restructuring expenses of -EUR 4.8 million in connection with the reorientation will turn out substantially negative once again. The company anticipates initial positive effects of the reorientation as early as this year, within the business results beginning in 2013.

In the first quarter of 2012, business development of Hoeft & Wessel AG turned out to be in line with expectations for the year as a whole. At EUR 17.9 million, sales revenues were on average for the past five years and down by 14 per cent compared with the relatively good level recorded in the previous year (2011: EUR 20.8 million). The operating result, at ‑EUR 2.5 million, turned out negative (2011: ‑EUR 0.4 million). Restructuring expenses amounting to -EUR 0.2 were incurred as early as the first quarter.

The order intake was encouraging in the first three months of the year. At EUR 21.4 million, considerably more new orders were taken into the books than in the first quarter of the previous year (2011: EUR 18.9 million). The order portfolio also rose to EUR 47.5 million (31 December 2011: EUR 43.9 million).

The operating cash flow likewise developed well in the first quarter of 2012, reaching EUR 0.6 million (previous year: ‑EUR 3.8 million).

As already reported on the basis of preliminary figures, the financial year 2011 closed with sales revenues down by 7 per cent compared with the previous year, amounting to EUR 88.4 million (2010: EUR 95.6 million). Non-scheduled depreciation and valuation adjustments amounting to -EUR 7.6 million as well as lower sales revenues and higher project costs led to a negative operating result (EBIT) in 2011, amounting to ‑EUR 10.9 million (2010: EUR 2.9 million).

Despite the substantially negative result, the Hoeft & Wessel Group’s liquidity was also adequate in 2011. Operating cash flow was positive at EUR 1.7 million, even though it did not reach the high value of the previous year (2010: EUR 7.8 million).

In the first quarter of 2012, Hoeft & Wessel continued the delivery and installation of on-board computers for buses run by the FirstGroup in the United Kingdom. Soon it will even be possible to use credit cards with EMV contactless function as a ticket. This will herald a new era in the field of ticketing. The Danish State Railway took delivery of the first completely newly developed e-Ticket readers. Mobile terminals for data capture went to various wholesalers, retailers and logistics companies in Germany as well as to the Swiss Post. The British subsidiary Metric extended its international business even further, delivering car park terminals to partners in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.

New orders for ticketing terminals were placed by the state-owned Belgian railway corporation SNCB and by a partner in Poland. Mobile terminals for data capture in the retail segment were ordered by Fegro-Selgros, Rewe and Rossmann. The Metric subsidiary received orders for car park terminals from two London boroughs.

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